Key holder

ABSTRACT

A key holder and utilitarian article having a key retaining loop to suspend a plurality of keys and a spring cushioned restraining device for confining one or more keys while another key on the loop may be in use.

United States Patent 1191 Leopoldi [4 Nov. 4, 1975 KEY HOLDER 2,849,0448/1958 12611161 150/40 3,003,214 10/1961 Geragmty 24/241 513 [76]lnvemor' f' 4180 Mame 3,280,967 10/1966 Bergh et a1 206/37 K Dflve, 8 160613 3,704,605 12/1972 Leopoldi et a1 70/450 R Filed: Apr. 5, 1974Appl. No.2 458,179

US. Cl. 70/456 R; 150/40 Int. C11 A4413 /00; A476 29/10 Field of Search/456 R, 459; 206/37 K,

206/38 K; /40; 24/3 K, 241 SB References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS1/1934 Slotnick 70/456 R 4/1952 Mager et a1 70/456 R PrimaryExaminer-Paul R. Gilliam Assistant Examiner-Alex Grosz Attorney, Agent,or Firm-Mann, Brown, McWilliams & Bradway [57] ABSTRACT A key holder andutilitarian article having a key retaining loop to suspend a pluralityof keys and a spring cushioned restraining device for confining one ormore keys while another key on the loop may be in use.

1 Claim, 11 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 1 of23,916,659

US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 sheetzofz 3,916,65

KEY HOLDER This invention relates to a device for releasably mounting aplurality of keys on a retaining loop and represents an improvement inthe Key Holder of my prior US. Pat. No. 3,704,605 dated Dec. 5, 1972,the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Heretofore key holders or containers havesuspended a number of keys from a retaining loop, or the like, and allof the keys, which are used one at a time, have been allowed to hangloose from the retaining device so that when one key is in use theremaining keys dangle from the device and under some conditions mayrattle together or engage a surface where they may damage the finish. Inan automotive vehicle for instance, when the ignition key is mounted ona device of this type together with other keys such as a glovecompartment or rear deck lid key or a locking gas cap key and theignition key is inserted in the ignition lock of the vehicle, theremaining keys on the device hang free and will swing to and fro andrattle as they come in contact with one another. This may comprise adistraction to the driver of the vehicle and if the ignition lockhappens to be located in the dash or instrument panel, the free swingingkeys suspended from the device may come into contact with the surface ofthe instrument panel and mar the finish because of the constant abrasionof the surface by the swinging keys while the vehicle is in operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention overcomes all of theshortcomings of these prior art key holders in that it affords apositive means of preventing the keys on such a device that are notbeing used from swinging free and rattling or scraping an adjacentsurface. The present key holder utilizes a bail or loop for mounting aplurality of keys thereon whereby all of the keys may be used one at atime and incorporates a hinged pocket-like member for releasablyrestraining the free ends of keys not'in use. The pivotally mountedpocket-like restraining member is disposed oppositely of the key holderwith respect to the key holding loop, i.e where the loop for the keys atthe top of the key holder, the key restraining hinged pocket member isdisposed adjacent to the bottom of the key holder.

The pivotally mounted pocket member is somewhat cupshaped and is openupwardly so that keys on the loop may be disposed with their free endsin the pocket. The pocket is provided with a cushioned liningresiliently to hold the keys entered therein against movement. Thepocket member has its pivotal mounting at the bottom of the key holderso that it swings outwardly away from the keys to release the keys foruse. The hinged pocket is mounted partially in a recess in the keyholder and the body of the key holder is provided with a verticallyextending recess for the full height of the body to accommodate the keysrestrained by the pocket member.

The pocket member is spring loaded so that the pocket always tends to bebiased toward-its closed, or key restraining, position. The spring meansmay comprise a torsion spring on the axle of the hinged member or acompression spring may be used with suitable fulcrumming arrangements todirect the forces as desired. The pocket member may be latched in theclosed position and a release provided for the latch which may take theform of a push button, or a lever action, or a sliding type action torelease the latch and enable the pocket member to be swung to its openor key releasing position.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The invention is concerned primarily with keyholders for releasably retaining a plurality of keys and has for itsmain purpose to restrain keys not in use from undue swinging motionswhile another key is in use.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a loop typekey holder adapted to dispose a key in a position of use while anotherkey is releasably confined against swinging movements.

An important object of the invention is to provide a key holder having areleasable retaining loop for a plurality of keys and a releasablerestraining device for keys not in use.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a key holder havinga cushioned spring pressed restraining device for holding keys not inuse.

A further object of the invention is to provide a key holder having aspring pressed key restraining device and a release for the device tofree a restrained key.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a key holderhaving a key restraining device and a release therefor operative by asafety latch against accidental release.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a key holderhaving a spring loaded key restraining device and a push button releasemember.

Another specific object of the invention is the provision of a keyholder having a spring loaded key restraining device and a leveractuated releasing device.

A still further specific object of the invention is to provide a keyholder having a spring loaded key restraining device and a releasedevice actuated by a sliding action.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other and still morespecific objects of the invention are attained by the key holderconstruction and arrangement illustrated in the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view of the key holder indicating aplurality of keys thereon in broken lines with certain of the keysrestrained by the device of this invention and another key released foruse;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the front side of the key holder with aplurality of keys indicated in broken lines with all of the keysrestrained by the device of this invention;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the rear side of the key holder;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the key holder;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view through the key holder taken on the line 5-5of FIG. 3 showing the hingedly mounted restraining device and a springpressed pin biasing the restraining device toward closed position withthe open position of the restraining device indicated in broken lines;

FIG. 6 is a general perspective view of a modified form of the keyholder where the restraining device is biased toward open position andis released by a push button in the side of the holder;

FIG. 7 is a front elcvational view of a type of key holder like that ofFIG. 6 with the restraining device in open position as biased by atorsional spring and including a pivoted lever on the side of the holderto actuate the push button for releasing the restraining device;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the key holder as shown in FIG. '7;

FIG. 9 is a detail sectional view illustrating the push button devicefor retracting a holding catch from the restraining device and thepivoted lever for actuating the push button;

FIG. 10 is a detail view taken from the line 10-10 in FIG. 9 showing theholding catch engaged in an opening in a side wall of the restrainingdevice; and

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary detail view of a vertically sliding device onthe side of a key holder to actuate the push button by a camming actionexerted on a sloping face of the push button.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawings 10 represents a keyholder as contemplated by this invention and having a bail like loop 11for mounting a plurality of keys 12. The bail 11 is releasable fromeither side thereof, as described in my prior US. Pat. No. 3,704,605,for the insertion or removal of one or more of the keys 12. The body ofthe key holder 10 is provided with a vertically disposed frontal recess13 and the keys 12 are adapted to be received in'this recess when not inuse. All of the keys may be disposed in the recess 13 as when the keyholderis to-be'inserted in a users pocket or when the key holder is laidaside for use at a later time. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, one key at atime may be removed from the recess 13 and disposed in a free positionon the bail 11 for use, as by insertion into a lock, at which time thekey holder with the remaining keys 12, will be suspended from this onekey in the lock and normally will be free to swing to and froparticularly if the keys are used in a vehicle such as an automobile.

Loose keys on a key holder utilized in such service normally wouldrattle and jingle to the point where the noise may become annoying anddistracting to the operator of the vehicle but on the key holder of thisinvention, the keys that are not actually being used are confined andrestrained against movement so that they cannot come in contact witheach other or the holder and therefore are prevented from rattling.Further, such loose keys are prevented from rubbing or scraping the areaaround a lock where the key being used may be inserted in a lock such asmay be mounted in the dashboard of an automobile or in a wall, or thesurface of a door where swinging of loose keys may abrade or damage thesurrounding area. This is positively prevented in the present key holderby a releasable retainer 14 hingedly mounted adjacent to the bottom ofthe holder on an axle 15.

The axle member 15, as best indicated in FIGS. 3 and 4, extends entirelythrough the key holder from side to side and the retainer 14, as bestindicated in FIGS. 1 and 5, opens upwardly so that the free ends of keys12 mounted on the crossbar of the bail 11 can be inserted into theretainer. The retainer 14 is moved to an open position, such asindicated in FIG. 5, for insertion of the free ends of the keys therein,after which the retainer exerts a biasing action on the keys to restrainthem and confine the keys against any free movement. This biasing actionis obtained through the operation of a spring pressed pin 16 which ismounted vertically in the body of the key holder 10 and projectsdowmvardly below a bottom body surface 17 to engage the retainer 14.Spring 18 is disposed in the socket 19 behind the pin 16 and exerts aresilient force downwardly on the pin. The pivotally mounted retainer 14includes a front wall 20, side walls 21 and a bottom wall 22. The axle15 extends through the opposite side walls 21 to mount the retainer forpivotal movement on the holder and it will be noted that the retainer 14is mounted in the frontal recess 13 of the key holder with therespective side walls 21 disposed in opposed association with the innersides of the recess. This mounting of the retainer provides a compactrelationship of the retainer with respect to the holder and wherein theretainer projects a minimum amount beyond the face of the key holder.

As shown in FIG. 5, the spring pressed pin 16 engages the uppermostsurface of the bottom wall 22 behind the axis of the retainer 14 asrepresented by the axle 15, so that a rotative force is applied to theretainer tending to move it about the axle 15 to closed position. Thisis best illustrated in FIG. 5. The inside surface of the front wall 20is padded with a cushion 23 secured thereon, as by cementing or the likeand the frontal surface of the recess 13 is provided with a similarcushion 24, also secured thereon as by cementing and disposed in opposedrelationship to the cushion 23 so that the two cushions, when theretainer 14 is in closed position, will resiliently grip the ends of thekeys l2 therebetween and hold the keys against any possibility ofrattling since the keys will be restrained in the pocket formed by theretainer in association with the frontal surface of the recess 13 andcushioned by the pads 23 and 24. These cushioning pads may be formedfrom rubber or a synthetic foam of suitable type adapted to withstandthe type of service to which they will be subjected and havingappropriate cushioning properties.

In the modified form of the key holder illustrated in FIG. 6, the keyrestraining device 25 is spring biased in the direction of its openingmovement and normally is locked in its closed position. This retaineralso includes front wall 26, side walls 27 and a bottom wall 28 and theinner side surface of the front wall 26 is provided with a cushioningpad 29 secured thereon, as by cementing, while the frontal surface ofthe recess 13 is provided with a cushioning pad 30 secured thereon alsoby means of a suitable cemented attachment. As in the previousarrangement, these pads are disposed in opposing relationship to gripthe free ends of keys 12 therebetween when the key retainer 25 isclosed, thus preventing movement or rattling of keys suspended from thebail 11 and not in use. In this form of the invention, the key retainer25 is biased toward open position by a torsion spring 31 which is coiledabout the axle 32 with one end 33 finding bearing in the recess 13 ofthe key holder and the opposite end 34 of the spring bearing against theinner surface of the retainer 25 whereby to rotate the retainer aboutthe axle 32 in the opening direction. The mounting axle 32 extendsthrough the side walls 27 of the retainer and pivotally mounts theretainer within the recess 13 in the body of the key holder.

The key retainer 25 is locked in the closed position by a latch 35 whichprojects through one side of the frontal recess 13 (see FIGS. 7, 9 10)and engages an opening 36 in the adjacent side wall 27 of the retainer.The latch 35 is under spring pressure andthe end face of the latch issloped in the direction to enable the retainer side wall 27 to engagethis sloping surface in the closing movement to retract the latchautomatically and enable the advancing edge of the side wall to pass andthen spring back into the opening 36 to lock the retainer in fullyclosed position. The latch 35 is actuated by a push button 37 projectingthrough the adjacent side wall of the key holder near the bottom of theholder and as best illustrated in FIG. 9, it will be seen that the pushbutton and the latch 35 comprise one integral piece pivotally mounted inthe body of the key holder 10 by means of a pin or axle 38 locatedintermediate the push button 37 and the latch so that when the pushbutton is pressed inwardly, the one piece member pivots about the pin 38to retract the latch 35 out of the side wall opening 36 to enable theretainer to spring open under the impetus of the torsion spring 31.

The one piece latch and push button member includes an intermediatevertical portion 39 containing the pivotal mounting 38. A horizontallydisposed portion 40 is located at the top of the vertical portion andextends inwardly to terminate in the locking latch 35 projecting intothe recess 13 in the path of the retainer side wall 27. At the bottom ofthe vertical portion 39, a horizontal portion 41 extends outwardly andprojects beyond the side of the key holder to terminate in the pushbutton 37. This push button 37 may be actuated directly as by thearrangement thereof illustrated in FIG. 6 or, as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and9, the push button 37 may be actuated by a pivoted lever member 42mounted on the side of the key holder body. The lever 42 is pivotallymounted at 43 and includes a downwardly extending arm 44 which overliesthe push button 37 so that when the upper end of the lever 42 is pivotedoutwardly, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 9, the bottom arm 44presses the push button 37 inwardly against the resilience ofcompression spring 45 and rotates the integral member about the axle 38to withdraw the latch 35 from the opening 36 in the side wall 27 of theretainer 25.

The spring 45 resiliently maintains the latch 35 engaged in the opening36 of the key retainer while enabling the latch to be depressedautomatically for the passage of the retainer side wall 27 in closingmovements and is compressed by the action of pushing the button 37 ofFIG. 6 inwardly or by pivoting the lever 42 of FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 in adirection to press inwardly on the push button but the inward actuationof the push button against the resilience of the spring 45 may also beobtained by the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 11. In this modifiedversion of the invention, the push button 37 is actuated inwardly by acamming action and for this purpose the outermost face of the pushbutton is sloped downwardly and outwardly. A vertically sliding member46 is provided with a camming surface 47 disposed to engage the slopingface of the push button 37 and which, when the member 46 is moved in asliding motion downwardly, slidingly engages the sloping surface of thepush button to force it inwardly against the resilience of the spring45. The member 46 is slidingly mounted on the side of the key holderbody 10 by means of a vertically elongated beaded member 48 operativelyengaged in a vertically elongated slot 49 in the sliding member. Themember 46 may be manipulated by a thumbpiece 50 at the top end of themember.

The pivoted lever 42 and the sliding member 46 in both of these versionsfor actuating the push button release will prevent accidental opening ofthe key retainer by avoiding the possibility of a direct inward pressureon the face of the push button. With these arrangements, it is necessaryto exert a positive action on the operating member 42 or 46, as case maybe, in order to move the push button in an operating direction so thatinadvertent actuation is avoided.

What is claimed is:

l. A key holder having a body portion and a bailshaped releasable loophaving a cross-bar mounted on the body portion adjacent to the top sideof the body portion and adapted to hold a plurality of keys on saidcross-bar, an open recess vertically disposed in the front face of saidbody portion and extending continuously from the top side of the bodyportion to the bottom side thereof, a pocket member having a horizontalbottom wall and a vertical wall forming an enclosure for the free end ofone or more keys extending from said cross-bar through said open recessinto the pocket member, said pocket member being pivotally mounted anddisposed at least partially in said open recess adjacent to said bottomside of said body portion, spring means operatively connected with saidpocket member, and cushion means mounted in said pocket member adaptedresiliently to engage and restrain said free end of said one or morekeys, said spring means comprising a spring mounted in said body portionand having operative connections with the body portion and with thepocket member and comprising a torsion spring mounted on the pivotalaxis of the pocket member to bias the pocket member about such axis, alatch member retaining said pocket member in closed position, and a pushbutton release for the latch member comprising an integral memberpivotally mounted in the body portion having spring means biasing thelatch member into operative engagement with the pocket member.

1. A key holder having a body portion and a bail-shaped releasable loophaving a cross-bar mounted on the body portion adjacent to the top sideof the body portion and adapted to hold a plurality of keys on saidcross-bar, an open recess vertically disposed in the front face of saidbody portion and extending continuously from the top side of the bodyportion to the bottom side thereof, a pocket member having a horizontalbottom wall and a vertical wall forming an enclosure for the free end ofone or more keys extending from said cross-bar through said open recessinto the pocket member, said pocket member being pivotally mounted anddisposed at least partially in said open recess adjacent to said bottomside of said body portion, spring means operatively connected with saidpocket member, and cushion means mounted in said pocket member adaptedresiliently to engage and restrain said free end of said one or morekeys, said spring means comprising a spring mounted in said body portionand having operative connections with the body portion and with thepocket member and comprising a torsion spring mounted on the pivotalaxis of the pocket member to bias the pocket member about such axis, alatch member retaining said pocket member in closed position, and a pushbutton release for the latch member comprising an integral memberpivotally mounted in the body portion having spring means biasing thelatch member into operative engagement with the pocket member.